Nursing strike

Fingers crossed for you, N.Kaye. Was the official advice of skin to skin and keep offering from your doc? Sounds like he/she is pretty clued in... something that is a bit rare these days. That's great. :) The self weaning at this point is rare, like your doc said, so keep offering and just like KW said her baby went for 2 weeks. So keep up the great work, mama. Hugs to you.

Oh no...so stressful! Don't worry about your supply dropping as long as you're still pumping for her. Once she starts feeding again she'll stimulate things along. :) As always, lots of really good advice from the lovely ladies below. Fingers crossed it's all back to normal for you both soon.

does she drink water from a cup? if not then keep her fluids up by giving her foods with high water content. 24 hours without milk isn't dangerous if she's eating as normal but she needes hydration of some sort. You can add the EBM to purees or any of her foods in the meantime. DS went on a 2 week nursing strike while he was EBF and I pumped and bottle fed it as well as offering the breast every chance I could, so get thee to a pump (or figure out how to hand express and do as SL says below to try and get the nursing back on track. I would check for teeth too.

LOL SweetLily I was just about to post the links to LLL good thing you came along.

Oh no. Nursing strikes are tough but luckily they don't usually last long. I remember how stressful I found it when my daughter would strike. First off, take a deep breath. You can totally get through it. Here is a link for LLL: http://www.llli.org/faq/strike.html And another: http://www.llli.org/nb/nbstrikes.html Here are people you can all in Dubai. DUBAI Dru Campbell, midwife and IBCLC Joanne Francis, midwife and IBCLC (also home visits) Baby Clinic and Midwifery Clinic, Health Bay Polyclinic Tel: 04 348 7140 Paula Miller, IBCLC (clinic appts and home visits) Tel: 050 6501189 Dr Delphine Dupuis, family doctor (special interest pediatrics, lactation and women’s health) and IBCLC Sun and Wed am MediCentres, Motor City Tel: 04 360 8866 Other days Symbiosis Healthcare, Healthcare City Tel 04 3624955. Telephone helplines (free) Breastfeeding Friends (7 days/week, 10am-10pm) English Support Line: 050 – 8684417 Arabic Support Line: 050 – 5679525 Urdu Support Line: 050 – 9819270 You can also contact any local doulas. The vast majority of them are trained in peer support and lactation education. Here are some contacts for local Dubai doulas: http://www.doulasofdubai.com/ http://www.my-doula.com/about-me/ http://www.m2mdoulasdubai.com/m2mdoulasdubai.com/Welcome.html http://www.thedotingdoulas.com/contact-us/ (Note to mods, I am not a doula in Dubai and none of those are links to my own site or give me any personal gain.) All of those doulas are trained in breastfeeding support. As far as working with the strike goes, 10 months is a prime age for it. So you're not alone. They don't last forever, some babies go back after 24 hours and some after a few days. 10 months is young to self wean and weaning is usually a gradual process to just keep in mind that it is a strike and only temporary. Do you have a pump available? If you are feeling engorged it's best to pump to prevent infection. Or maybe you can hand pump if you don't have one at the ready. First off, don't panic (I know easier said than done). Try to stay relaxed and keep offering the breast. Is she more likely to nurse if she is sleepy or at night? Those are common times when babies can pop back on during a strike. Don't force a feeding. Try doing lots of skin to skin and maybe take a bath together. You can also take a bit of a nursing holiday. Meaning that you hang out in bed for a day with your daughter and just do lots of skin to skin and stay really relaxed as you keep offering her the breast. Try not to seem too worried about her not nursing, she will feel that stress. If you do end up pumping you can give that milk in a glass when she is eating. But keep at the nursing. It is very, very likely that she will go back to the breast. Try to get hold of one of those people above for some one to one support. Hugs to you, mama.

Hi I can give you the number of an LC pls email me at [email protected]